Consider Your Online Reputation On Social Networks

Have you ever been concerned with your online personal branding, or how others think of you based on what companies you “Like” on Facebook or “Follow” on Twitter?  I know that I “think” about what I write very carefully before posting it online and also the organizations I affiliate myself with online.  I do not want to hurt someone’s feelings or come across as unprofessional using bad handwriting skills or using inappropriate words.  As a product reviewer, I do not want to “endorse” a product that I do not believe is of good quality, so I make sure and truly “review” the product before telling my readers about its’ performance.

I have many online friends that I have never met in person, and enjoy chatting with online through emails, social networks and private messages.  I stay away from those who use vulgar language online and those who use social networks to speak of topics that I do not deem family appropriate.  This is not really fair to the person online, but since I cannot meet them in person, this is how I must pick and choose my online friends.  For example, I love to read mom blogs, but do not follow those bloggers who repeatedly use vulgar language in their posts.  Maybe they don’t talk that way around their family and their blog is their way of  “venting,” but I do not believe that type of language is necessary.  With this being said, I feel bad for those who are receiving a bad name for no reason.  Once you’ve been “pegged” as a bad apple, it is hard to get back on track.  People like to gossip and sometimes that gossip goes too far and the story changes drastically each time it is passed on.  So, think about what you write online before you post it.  It is very easy to write now and think later, but you don’t want others to conceive you as a person that you are not, so make sure to think first before writing something that may come back to haunt you in the future.